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The electricity cost of a 24/7 NAS stream depends on the setup’s measured average power draw and your local electricity rate. Calculate it as average watts × 24 × days ÷ 1,000 × price per kWh. Every extra watt running continuously uses 0.72 kWh in a 30-day month. Add any internet overage and treat hardware, disks and a UPS as separate costs—not part of the monthly electricity bill.
Calculate the electricity cost of your NAS stream
Use this formula, with the price on your electricity bill expressed per kilowatt-hour (kWh):
Monthly electricity cost = average watts × hours per day × days ÷ 1,000 × local price per kWh
For a 30-day month running all day and night, that simplifies to:
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Monthly electricity cost = average watts × 0.72 × local price per kWh
For a full year, use 8,760 hours rather than 720. If your tariff varies by time of day, estimate consumption in each pricing period separately and apply the corresponding rate.
Worked example using a NAS specification
Synology lists the DS224+ at 14.69 W in access mode. If it drew that amount continuously, it would use 14.69 × 24 × 30 ÷ 1,000 = 10.5768 kWh in a 30-day month. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 2025 average residential electricity price of 17.30 cents/kWh, making the arithmetic about $1.83 per month, or about $22.00 per year, at that same rate. Synology’s DS224+ specifications and the EIA’s electricity data provide the inputs.
This is an illustration, not a measurement of an FFmpeg stream or a prediction for every NAS. The EIA price is a U.S. national historical average; the 2025 and 2026 figures are preliminary estimates. Your bill may differ due to location, taxes, fixed charges or time-of-use pricing. Replace the example rate with your own bill’s price per kWh.
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Measure the whole setup, not just the NAS label
A plug-in electricity usage monitor can show the wall draw of the equipment you choose to include. Measure over representative operation, including the stream running, rather than treating a power-supply rating as actual consumption. For a useful total, include any dedicated encoder, router, switch or modem as well as the NAS.
The DS224+ specification lists 14.69 W in access mode and 4.41 W in HDD hibernation. A NAS reading media for a stream may keep its disks from hibernating. FFmpeg encoding, containers, extra storage devices and other NAS services can also change consumption. The listed 60 W adapter rating is its capacity, not the NAS’s continuous operating draw.
Whole cost versus incremental cost
If the NAS already runs around the clock for storage, distinguish the whole equipment electricity cost from the additional cost of streaming. Measure the system before and during the intended workload if you need an incremental estimate: streaming can raise CPU activity or change disk behavior even when the NAS would otherwise remain on.
Keep purchase and lifecycle costs separate from the utility calculation. The NAS, disk replacement and an optional UPS are setup or ongoing ownership costs, not electricity charges. A UPS can help with brief power interruptions, but adds purchase cost and conversion losses; its runtime depends on the load and battery.
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Check whether FFmpeg encoding changes the power draw
Passing through compatible encoded media and re-encoding video are different workloads. Re-encoding can require more processing, and the result depends on the NAS model, codec, source, filters, resolution, frame rate and FFmpeg configuration. There is no established performance result here for a particular NAS or stream, so do not assume that any NAS can encode your chosen video reliably. Test the exact job on the specific model and measure its wall draw.
Resolution, frame rate and bitrate affect the work and network requirements, but bitrate alone is not an electricity charge. YouTube’s current encoder guidance recommends H.264 rates by output format; for example, 1080p30 is 5 Mbps. It also specifies constant bitrate (CBR) and recommends a two-second keyframe interval, not exceeding four seconds. See YouTube Help’s encoder settings, bitrates and resolutions for current guidance, including other resolutions and codecs.
Estimate outbound data and possible internet charges
A continuous 5 Mbps stream sends approximately 2.25 GB per hour in decimal units before overhead:
5 megabits/second × 3,600 seconds ÷ 8 bits/byte = 2,250 megabytes
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That is roughly 54 GB per day or 1.62 TB in a 30-day month. These are arithmetic estimates, not guaranteed billed totals: protocol overhead, provider units and rounding can affect reported traffic. Whether the data costs extra depends on your ISP plan, cap and overage terms. Without your location and plan, a specific internet charge cannot be calculated.
Do not assume a 24-hour YouTube archive
YouTube’s setup guidance says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived. That should not be read as a promise that one uninterrupted 24/7 stream will produce a complete 24-hour video-on-demand archive. If an archive matters, plan around YouTube’s stated limit and confirm the current behavior in its live-stream setup guidance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Ways to keep a YouTube stream running
For a NAS you already own, the most direct cost approach is to run the intended FFmpeg workload, measure the complete equipment boundary at the wall, and calculate the electricity using your bill rate. Check internet-plan terms separately. This keeps the hardware and process under your control, but the result depends on the NAS and local network staying available.
- Measure: Record representative wall power with the NAS and any dedicated network or encoding equipment included.
- Calculate: Apply the formula above to the measured average watts and your local tariff; calculate incremental power separately if the NAS already runs for other duties.
- Check the stream workload: Test the exact source, encode or pass-through path, output settings and intended run time on your NAS.
- Check platform and network conditions: Follow YouTube’s current encoder guidance, monitor stream health, and verify outbound-data terms with your ISP.
YouTube’s encoder setup uses a Live server URL and stream key; keep the key private and use the ingest settings appropriate to your chosen workflow. YouTube recommends testing before going live and monitoring stream health.
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Or let it run in the cloud
StreamNeo is a hosted service for keeping a YouTube channel live from uploaded videos. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live; StreamNeo loops it from the cloud. The stream does not depend on a home computer or connection staying on. StreamNeo says it automatically recovers if YouTube drops the stream, and the first day is free with no card. Its monthly price is $9.99 per month.
Each slot includes one always-on stream, 10 GB of pooled storage per active slot, looping and playlists, support, and video streamed as uploaded at any quality up to 4K 60fps, without re-encoding or quality tiers. This is a cloud subscription rather than a NAS electricity estimate; compare it with your own measured power cost, internet-plan terms and need for local control.
For details, visit StreamNeo, or start the free first day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a 14.69 W NAS really cost about $1.83 per month?
That is the calculated cost for a continuous 14.69 W load at the EIA’s 2025 U.S. residential average of 17.30 cents per kWh; your measured draw and local rate may differ.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchCan every NAS run a 24/7 FFmpeg stream?
That cannot be established for NAS devices in general. Test the specific model with your source and FFmpeg settings, especially if it must re-encode.
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